Grain Free Hawaiian Meatballs

It’s fun to mix things up! These Grain Free Hawaiian Meatballs are the perfect combination of sweet and spicy. They are great as a finger food for your super bowl party, appetizer for your summer barbecue, or enjoyed with a side salad for dinner. I specifically designed these for a super bowl party. I love to bring different things that people won’t even think about being healthy, gluten free, or grain free.

My Inspiration

When I think of hawaiian inspired foods, I think about pineapple, coconut, and pork. Then adding in some jalapeno, green onion, red bell pepper for a pop of color, some coconut aminos (a soy sauce substitute), and a bit of apple cider vinegar and you have an incredibly delicious combination. I decided on a combination of ground pork and ground beef to pair with the amazing mixture above.

The Recipe

In developing the flavor for this recipe, I decided to make the mixture sans meat at first so I could taste as I go. Start with a 1/2 cup crushed pineapple. I used a canned version in it’s own juice versus cutting up and processing my own in a food processor, but you definitely can. Then add in 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut. The coconut is not only for flavor, it helps bind the meatballs together. From there it is time to grab a knife, cutting board, food processor if you have one, green onion, red bell pepper, and jalapeno. Using just the green portion of the green onion, slice very thin slices and add to the pineapple/coconut mixture. From here I took half the bell pepper, rough chopped it, and put it into the food processor to get into the smallest pieces possible without pureeing it. Measure out 1/4 cup and add that to your mixture. For the jalapeno I used all the of pepper but only a small portion of the seeds. If you are sensitive to spicy foods, I would omit all of the seeds, and if you like a lot of heat, use more. It’s all up to your taste buds! Then add it to your processor and again, chop into very small pieces. Add all of it to your mixture. Next up is the 2 tablespoons coconut aminos, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, a teaspoon of salt, teaspoon of garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon of ginger powder, and a 1/4 tsp cayenne powder. Mix it all together and taste. Make sure it’s to your liking in terms of sweet and spicy.

Then add in your pound of ground pork and pound of ground beef. Mix everything together thoroughly. Cover a large baking sheet with foil (for easy clean up), and make medium sized (about 2 inches) meatballs and place them on your baking sheet. This recipe makes about 35 medium sized meatballs. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Voila! Done!